SAM

SAM

“Helping immigrants and refugees is the most important in my life” – John Edward Samms

Hi everyone again! Today, please let me introduce about my teacher who help me so much when I came here until now. His name is Sam, John Edward Samms, he’s 60 years old and he’s a kind-hearted, decent person, I like talking with him and ask him to give me the advises because he has knowledge of so many angles of life, such as, Music, Society, History, etc . He has had a lot kinds of job in his life: rake leaves and shovel snow when he was a little boy. He was a guitarist in a rock n roll band in 16. After graduating university, he become an advertising for a company, but he quick because he didn’t feel happy while he was working. He spent time to travel and then teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) for immigrants and refugees.

Samms is the old man with a clam and gentle face, he would like to help others people when they have problems and need advices from him. “The important in his life that is helping immigrants and refugees.” he said.  When I asked him why he likes to help others people, especially, immigrants and refugees, he explain:” I know how hard it is come to a new culture and I respect the courage of people who are brave enough to do it”, new people feel hard to adopt to new culture, he said. Samms help other people for no advantages that he takes from them, he thinks all people who live in the work is still a big family even they are from different countries and have different cultures, “I feel that if you can help new comes, it’s your responsibility to do so” he told me.

Born in Ireland, and then Samms moved to United States when he was a little boy, after that he had traveled and lived in so many places: Mexican, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Arizona, New Mexico before he chooses Oregon is his hometown.  Because of traveling, he has so many experiences of feelings and difficult troubles what people can have when they move from their hometown to live in another society. They will feel confused, uncomfortable and even scared because they don’t know anything or have no idea about what they should do, he said.

He told me about his memories when he traveled, one of them is when he traveled to Mexico, and his car had problem with the wheel tire while he was driving. He must get his car repaired and when the mechanic talked about machine and the problem that his car had with him, he said that he can’t understand the mechanical thing, they looked like a different language to him. He felt confused and uncomfortable because he had no idea about that issue: he couldn’t know if the mechanic would had cheated on him, and he didn’t know what he should do next. These are terrible feeling for him, but he can have more sympathy and understand more the feelings of immigrants and refugees when they come to live in others coutries, after that he wants to help others more than because he doesn’t want anyone else to feel these negative emotions when they try to adopt to new society.

I asked Samms how he feels about people who don’t really like to help others when  they can’t take any advantages from them. He said those people are selfish, they have small and tiny mind. They never know that they can learn something from helping people. “helping” is the happiness and helping people is the way how to enjoy the life, your mind will open and your heart will become a heart of gold. Your life’s never empty from enjoyableness because surprised thing usually come when you help others, you never imagine what they can bring to you and even they can help you after that.

Even though Samms is retired already, but he still keep helping others, especially, immigrants and refugees by teaching ESL at Portland University. His plant is getting a better computer to help him commune easily with others who live too far from him, he told me that he would like to help as much as possible and Internet will be the best way to let him makes it become true.